3,000 Surrey students to receive lifesaving CPR and defibrillator training

Surrey, BC 12:30 p.m. PST – Today, the Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation and partners will launch the ACT High School CPR and Defibrillator Training Program in 10 Surrey public standard secondary schools. More than 3,000 Surrey students will be empowered by their teachers with essential lifesaving skills every year. The media event is being held at Tamanawis Secondary School, 12600 66 Avenue, Surrey, BC, V3W 2A8.

The ACT Foundation is the charitable organization that is establishing free CPR and defibrillator training programs in secondary schools throughout BC and across Canada.

ACT is working in partnership with its provincial partner BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) paramedics and staff, and health partners AstraZeneca Canada, Sanofi Canada, and Amgen Canada, and community partners, Rotary Club of Cloverdale, Rotary Club of White Rock, Semiahmoo Rotary Club, Surrey Central Lions Club, and White Rock Kiwanis Club to bring this program to the secondary schools in Surrey.

“I am extremely pleased to see our government partnering with the ACT Foundation through BC Emergency Health Services. Our government is committed to giving people better health care, and I could not be happier to see the ACT Foundation teaching young British Columbians skills that can save lives,” says Harry Bains, MLA for Surrey-Newton.

Funding will see secondary schools receive training equipment to enable teachers to train students. This includes Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training units, AED training mannequins, and program set-up that will see all students graduate with the skills and knowledge to save lives.

“As a founding partner of the ACT Foundation, we have proudly watched this program expand to communities from coast to coast. Not only are youth learning critical skills that stay with them for a lifetime, they also gain an appreciation of the science behind the techniques and, in some cases, go on to pursue careers in such areas as nursing, medicine, and emergency services,” says Jamie Freedman, President and CEO, AstraZeneca Canada.

With eight in 10 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring at home or in public places, empowering youth with CPR training as part of their high school education will help increase citizen CPR response rates over the long term.

To date, the ACT High School CPR Program has been established in 242 public standard secondary schools throughout British Columbia and approximately 506,000 students have already been empowered to save lives with CPR.

“Our front-line paramedics and dispatchers know bystander CPR saves lives. That’s why we’re so invested in helping to prepare future generations on how to help someone suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest,” says BCEHS Vice-President of Clinical and Medical Programs, Dr. John Tallon. “Every year, through the ACT Foundation’s CPR and AED program approximately 46,000 BC students gain the information, skills, and confidence to help save lives. These skills will assist them to help others throughout the rest of their lives.” Early CPR combined with early defibrillation can increase the chance of survival for cardiac arrest victims by up to 75% according to Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“We are thrilled with the support from our partners,” said Sandra Clarke, the ACT Foundation’s Executive Director. “With it, we can enhance the CPR program in Surrey secondary schools with the addition of the defibrillator training component. These are lifesaving skills that students will be able to bring to their current and future families and communities.”

To date, the ACT Foundation has set up the ACT High School CPR Program in more than 1,790 high schools nation-wide, empowering more than 4.2 million youth to save lives.

About the ACT Foundation

The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization establishing the free CPR and AED program in Canadian high schools. The program is built on ACT’s award-winning community-based model of partnerships and support, whereby ACT finds local partners who donate the mannequins and AED training units that schools need to set up the program. Secondary school teachers then teach CPR and how to use a defibrillator to their students as a regular part of the curriculum, reaching all youth prior to graduation. ACT’s partners, committed to bringing the program to British Columbia are BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), and our national health partners AstraZeneca Canada, Sanofi Canada, and Amgen Canada. www.actfoundation.ca or on Twitter @actfoundation #ACT2Save

About BC Emergency Health Services
BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) is responsible for the delivery and governance of pre-hospital emergency medical care and inter-facility patient transfer services through the BC Ambulance Service and BC Patient Transfer Services. BCEHS is supported by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). For more information, please visit www.bcehs.ca or on Twitter @BC_EHS.

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For photo opportunities or media interviews and information:

Jennifer Edwards
Operations Manager
ACT Foundation
jedwards@actfoundation.ca
Tel: 613-286-5260
Toll: 800-465-9111

Cristiane Doherty
Media Coordinator
ACT Foundation
comms@actfoundation.ca
Tel: 613-799-9277

www.actfoundation.ca
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